Courage (勇気)
by Fumiko Matsubara
Summary: Meet the "Victory Goddess" Makoto Murasakime, a former Champion who had quit playing Volleyball. Meet the "Guardian God" Yuu Nishinoya, a talented libero who wants to step on the court with his Ace once again. Watch two idiots from different worlds when they crossed paths with each other, all because of Garigari-kun's popsicles. NoyaXOC.
1. Prologue 1

**Courage (勇気)**

 **Prologue 1**

 _"Life's a bore if you don't challenge yourself." —Yuu Nishinoya_

 _"Whatever you decide to do, make sure it makes you happy." —Makoto Murasakime_

* * *

" **HATOYAMA**!"

The sound of the crowd's cheering surrounded the gigantic gymnasium.

"Fly! Fly! **Pigeons of the Sky!"**

The lively cheers of the crowd always out their team at ease when playing against their opponents.

"GO! GO! **SUZUMEBACHI**!"

Muffled cheers from the opposing side seemed to be overpowered by the boisterous crowd of the champions.

 _Breathe in... Breathe out..._

"Left!" Called one of the spikers.

Their setter took a very quick glance, that went unnoticed by the opponents, at her teammate before she made the decision to toss a fast one at her.

"Finish it in one shot, Ace!" Yelled the setter with golden eyes glaring at the ball that was tossed by her.

 _168.29 centimeters to the right and 8 centimeters away from the endline... 48% amount of power and 52% amount of control used... Their libero will assume things wrong from here._

Whilst on the mid air, their Ace fixated her eyes away from the ball to the opposing libero.

 _Even if she noticed it coming... She won't make it in time..._

 ** _*WHAM!*_**

"OUT!" Suzumebachi's libero called out.

It was such a crucial moment as silent befalls across the stadium. The sound of the ball being spiked on the opposite court can only be heard.

Suzumebachi's libero stared at one of the line judges as they started to squint their eyes at the end line where the ball somewhat touched.

Hatoyama's Ace landed on her feet, straightening her position, her purple eyes lazed all over the opposing side.

The line judges slightly moved their arms, startling them due to this dreadful moment.

 _Fweh... It's decided that we get to play more—!_

Her head started to throb in pain, making her wince at the sudden sensation. She grabbed her head with her left hand as she tried to focus her attention to the judges.

 _Why..? Why does it have to be now?_

Her breathing became unsteady, her head is starting to spin. And her knees are about to give in. The Ace suddenly shook her head to get her attention back to the line judges.

They pointed their flags downward, indicating that the ball was in bounds.

The referee blew the whistle. Hatoyama just scored from thier set point. They won the fourth set. One more and they'll win the nationals. Meaning, that they will play more.

The crowd burst in loud cheers, proud and happy at their team's capabilities.

" **YOSHAAA**!"

Throwing their fists in the air, the girls cheered out happily, grateful at the fact that they will play in the final set.

Their setter, a short brunette with blonde roots and ringlets, ran to their Ace and jumped at her to give her a deadly hug.

"MAKOTO-CHAN! We get to play one more set again!"

The Ace, a slightly taller ravenette with light purple streaks, just looked in horror at the incoming canon, preparing for the hug of her life.

"Ah wait, Senritsu-senpai! I'm not in good condition to-!" Without finishing her protest, Makoto was tackled onto the ground by the said incoming canon of a small setter.

After getting up, the senpai pulled their Ace back to her feet. "Well, my name is not Senritsu Harukawa if I don't give my kouhai an amazing hug~!"

Suddenly, a tall girl with straight black hair approached them with a mischievous smile.

"You can't call her 'senpai' if she's in the same grade as we do, Makoto."

Makoto caught her breath slightly before bowing to the black-haired girl.

"Captain!"

Senritsu pulled her back up before sending their captain an incredulous look. "Misako Akiyama-chuan. Why would you say that? We're two years apart!" The supposed senpai pouted like a kid wanting to know why she can't eat candy before dinner.

Chuckling a bit, Misako's metallic eyes glinted with mischief. Seeing this, Makoto sighed exasperatedly.

 _Here comes the husband and wife argume—!_

There it is again, the throbbing pain.

Makoto wince visibly, she held her head while shutting her eyes to ease the pain.

She looked around, everything seems to be spinning wildly. Then she looked at what's in front of her, her teammates are arguing once again.

"The word 'senpai' comes from levels and rankings, not age and intelligence! Come to think of it, you're not even intellligent to begin with!" Queried the captain.

The blonde turned brunette setter tried to think of a good comeback but no avail.

Misako sees this then decided to push further. "Well, it's your fault for repeating your last year of middle school twice after all. I'm surprised that you even managed to go to high school, it makes me think that your repeated your school year on purpose just so that you won't graduate before us."

"Wha..? That's not—!"

"Um... Senpai, Captain, Coach Nishinoya calling us now. We need to get going." Weakly, the raven-haired Ace interfered, not wanting to know where this argument would travel to.

The duo looked at each other beofre shrugging in defeat.

Senritsu put her hands behind her head the started to walk to their bench, the two ravenettes followed suite. "You're right. You know how Coach is, she lectured me throughout the entire time out all because I couldn't block Suzumebachi's Ace during the second set..."

"That's your fault, idiot." Misako commented, not letting the brunette to finish her potential long story.

"I suck at jumping, okay?! Even Fuyumi jumps higher that I do!"

"If our libero jumps higher than a setter like you, then why don't you start practing once we won? It's beneficial since you're so short, idiot." Misako stated bluntly.

The setter turned around sharply, sending the captain a dirty look. "Excuse me? You call me SHORT?! Isn't it that my height is just average?!"

Makoto stepped in before another argument will commence. "No, it's lower than average. Saki's height in 157 centimeters is the average, compared to your 154 centimeters."

The blonde turned brunette just grumbled under her breath at Makoto's answer. "Doesn't make any difference to your lousy 159 centimeters of a height..."

Misako just sighed at the sight she just witnessed. Glancing at their Ace, she noticed that Makoto looked so much paler than her skin is supposed to be. "Hey Makoto, you okay? You looked awfully pale right now."

Startled, the Ace decided to put up a front. "Am I? Must be from the last hit, I did a lot crictical thinking on that one after all... Hehe..."

"I see..."

There's the throbbing pain again, it's much more painful this time.

The world started to spin rapidly.

She looked around.

The pain won't stop.

It's still there.

It won't go away.

She held her head once again, tightly this time.

She grunted a few more times.

Her knees are about to give up once again.

Her breathing became more shallow.

Her eyelids felt heavier at every second.

She looked around once again.

Everyone was chatting so happily.

Her body felt numb, but her head doesn't.

Noises started to muffle out.

Her vision became blurr.

Nothing but pain is left.

Then everything went black.

* * *

Author's Note: Since when did playing Rolling Sky made me come up with this story? Don't ask me, it just came.

Okay, I actually came up with this in the middle of the night when I was rereading some NoyaXOC on wattpad. Besides, this is my first ever Haikyuu! fanfiction so I wanted to give it a try on a CanonXOC story. Besides I haven't touched my account for like almost two years so I wanted to give it a new start with a new story.

Disclaimer: I do not own Haikyuu! except for the OCs. Haikyuu! belongs to Furudate Haruichi and Shōnen Jump. This story might go according to the manga.

~松原文子ちゃん


	2. Prologue 2

**Courage (勇気)**

 **Prologue 2**

 _"Embrace the glorious mess that you are." —Elizabeth Gilbert_

 _"Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there." —Will Rogers_

* * *

 _"Most of the schools here are quite stressful for you to handle, dear." A woman with mid-length raven hair and indigo eyes said to the girl sitting before her._

 _Makoto stiffened at the statement slightly. Taking a deep breath, she looked at her mother and nodded in understanding. "I see..."_

 _Aika Murasakime scrolled down her tablet with a thoughtful expressin. Tapping her chin with her right finger in concentration, she suggested, "Why don't you transfer OUTSIDE of Yamagata? Anywhere is fine as long as it is in the Tohoku Region."_

 _Obviously surprised at the sudden suggestion, Makoto stared at her mother in disbelief. "Y-you're letting ME study outside Yamagata?" She asked incredulously; her mother nodded in affrimation._

 _"Do you have a fever, Mommy?"_

 _A vein popped into Aika's head at the ridiculous question. "No, Makoto. I don't. Thank you for your baseless concern."_

 _Makoto quirked an eyebrow at the response. "Really? I thought that you'd be more protective than that..."_

 _"Is that so? I figured that you don't need to be caged anymore... You're old enough to do what you want after all..." Aika trailed off before looking at her daughter's vibrant purple eyes._

 _"So, where do you want to go, Sugar?"_

 _Makoto leaned back to her chair while thinking deeply with eyes closed._

 _"Where would I...?"_

 ** _"Alítheia, I'll be staying here for as long as I live!"_**

 ** _"Then I'll come back as soon as I can, Noche!"_**

 _Makoto opened her eyes slightly sluggishly at the sudden image flashing in the middle of her train of thoughts._

 _Aika looked at her daughter eagerly while wriggling her eyebrows. "Well~ Have you thought about it?"_

 _Makoto deadpanned at this._ Is it just me or does Mommy really want me to go away that much?

 _"Miyagi."_

 _Her mother snapped out of her reverie. "Um... Excuse me, what did you say again?"_

 _Makoto inwardly rolled her eyes at this then took a deep breath. "I want to attend a school in Miyagi."_

 _"Uh... What part of Miyagi?"_

 _"Torono."_

 _"Isn't that where we used to live in?"_

 _"Uh... Yes?"_

 _Aika eyed her daughter warily. "May I ask why?"_

 _"Well, it's right next to Yamagata so i could get to visit you and Sis during the weekends."_

 _"What? You don't have to do that, you know? Use that time to hang out with your future friends or something!"_

 _"But if I didn't, I"ll get homesick!_

 _Aika sighed once again, knowing that once her stubborn daughter made a decision, there is no going back. "Your aunt lives there. Once we made a decision of the school that you're going to attend, you'll be living with her."_

 _"Really?"_

 _"Really."_

 _Bumping her fist in the air, Makoto yelled out victoriously._

 _"ORYAAA!"_

* * *

 _"What about Shiratorizawa?"_

 _"No way. Japan's Top 3 Ace Ushiwaka goes there. I'd rather not see him at all cost."_

 _"Aoba Jousai?"_

 _"Their uniforms are hideous."_

 _"Jouzenji?"_

 _"They're fond of rumors, they'll recognize me."_

 _"How did you know."_

 _"I have a friend that attends Jouzenji. Apparently, rumors cease to end there."_

 _"Oh... Date Kogyou, perhaps?"_

 _"Just... No."_

 _"What about Niiyama?"_

 _"Am I not allowed to become friends with a guy?"_

 _Annoyed at the another rejected suggestion, Aika sighed for the hundredth time today._ Well, there is one high school that I haven't mentioned yet. _She looked at her tablet and searched for the name of the high school._

 _"Oi. What about Karasuno High?"_

 _Makoto tilted her head at the somewhat familiar name of the said school. "Karasu...no? You mean the one with the Small Giant?"_

 _"Oh? So you do know this school. It's where your father studied when I met him..."_

* * *

 _Makoto jumped at her bed after the tiringly long discussion she had with her mom._

Karasuno High... huh? The education system thereis adequate compared to other schools, not to mention that the uniforms are soooo cute..! And it's in BLACK! You know how much I love the color black, it's so DOPE! Come to think of it, 'Karasu' means 'Raven' and ravens are as black as my natural hair... Ugh...

 _Turning around lazily, the raventte stared at the ceiling blankly._

Come to think of it, I completely forgotten what Noche's real name is already... It's been so long that even forgotten how he looked like in the first place...

 _Glancing at her study table, she took notice of the worn-out Molten volleyball placed on top of the desk._

 ** _"Alítheia, once you've come back, let's play volleyball again! Okay?"_**

 ** _"Okay! I promise, Noche!"_**

 _She stood up from her bed and walked towards to her study table. She grabbed the worn out ball and inspected it. There were marker writtings across the ball that is slightly fading away._

 _"I alítheia to vrády."_

 _"I alítheia to vrády." Makoto read the markings on the ball outloud. She stared at it for quite a while as another memory flashes through her mind._

 ** _"Noche, what does this mean?"_**

 ** _"Oh, it's in Greek. Mom helped me out though. It means 'The truth in the evening.' I think it's a saying that speaks the two of us..."_**

 ** _"Eh... Is that so?"_**

 ** _"Yep! That way, whenever you read it, you'll always remember me!"_**

 ** _"I see! Noche, gimme' that marker too! I wanna write something as well! This time, it's for you!"_**

 _Makoto chuckled at the memory. It was the day before she moved to Yamagata, where she and Noche exchanged remembrances. To her, it's funny that when they met and when they departed, there is always a volleyball involved in the moment._

 _"And then I wrote everything in Spanish on the ball that I gave to him... 'La verdad en la noche'. Such a cute thing to do, even for me..." Makoto smiled at the written ball fondly. Slowly, she held the ball closer until she ended up hugging the treasured gift in relief._

 _Suddenly, she put the ball back on top of her desk then jumped back at her bed once again. She gazed at the ball sadly one last time._

 ** _"Alítheia, promise me that we'll play volleyball once you've come back?"_**

 _"I'm sorry, Noche. But I have long quit playing ever since last year's Spring High..."_

* * *

Author's Note: And I'm back again with another prologue!

Chapter 1 will begin shortly after I finish my exams, so I will update once I get school out of my mind.

Until the next time!

~松原文子ちゃん


	3. Immediate Closeness

**Courage (勇気)  
"Immediate Closeness"**

 _"When life gives you a hundred reeasons to **cry** , show life that you have a thousand reasons to **smile**."— Anonymous  
"If you have the right mental attitude, nothing can stop you from achieving your goals."— Felicity Luckey_

* * *

 _ **If there is one word for me to describe Karasuno, was that it's pretty "normal". Compared to other schools, Karasuno seems to be the type of school that doesn't have that much drama going on. Well, knowing me I would have complained nonstop. There's nothing I can do anyways, and it's surprisingly relaxing, even for me.**_

Makoto briefly glanced around the classroom. Everyone was either having lunch or chatting merrily with others. She focused her attention back to her notebook then continued writing her thoughts out.

 ** _It's been two weeks since I've moved here in Miyagi, everything surprisingly looked almost the same as to when I used to live here!_**

 ** _Today is the second day of school yet I'm still pretty jittery, especially what happened yesterday. You know whenever it's the first day of school, we have to introduce ourselves in front of the class, right? Well, everything was going on smoothly until it was my turn. It was nerve wrecking, I hate to admit._**

Makoto stopped writing for a moment as she thought about yesterday's events. When it was her turn, nobody ceased to stop from staring at her. After finishing her introduction with her smile, most of the guys' faces were beet in red along with some of the girls too.

 _ **Honestly, everyone looked at me as if I was some kind of super famous international model paying a visit or something! It's probably because of my eye color since there is no such thing as people with purple eyes, or so they thought.**_

 ** _Well, despite with all that mishap, I still made a friend at the end of the day._**

"What're you doing, Sakime-chan?" Sitting next to her was a really tall girl (about 5'8") with auburn hair tied in a messy bun and sharp sapphire blue eyes.

Makoto looked up from her notebook to her seatmate who is looking at her curiously. She gave her friend a cheeky grin in reply. "What else do you think am I doing, Suzu-chan?"

Hanako Suzumiya pouted at her new found friend's sarcastic response. "I'm asking what you're writing, Cheekyass!"

Makoto chuckled at Hanako's reaction. She knew that Hanako, like her, is very short-tempered and sometimes explodes in the most petty way.

"It's a journal. I told my mom that she's going to read it whenever I visit her in Yamagata."

Hanako's eyes sparked in interest as she leaned closer to see the contents of the notebook. "So... It's like a written report of your everyday adventures for your mom or something?"

"Well~ I had to leave some things out, now wouldn't I~?" The purple-eyed girl replied in a sing song voice with a mischievous grin.

Hanako felt a smirk creeping across her face at the reply. She nudged Makoto's side with her elbow and winked at her at the same time. "Ohohoho~ you sneaky little rascal! Who would have thought that you can be this secretive?"

Makoto closed her notebook shut and shove it inside her bag along with the pen she used. She went up from her seat and stood face to face with Hanako despite the latter being half a head taller than she is.

She shushed Hanako's lips with her index finger with a grin. "Every woman has a secret after all~" Cooed the ravenette.

Hanako scoffed at that, turning away with a slight scowl on her face. "Woman? Do we even belong in that category?"

Makoto slightly stepped away and set herself in a playful thinking position, tapping her head with her finger.

Hanako frowned, obviously not amused at her friend's antics.

"Hmm..." Makoto fummed a bit and looked at Hanako in the eye seriously.

"W-what?" Obviously bothered by the eye to eye contact that Makoto kun was giving her, Hanako gulped the lump that she had unconsciously formed in her throat.

"Why would I be included?" Asked the ravenette.

Confusion.

"What?"

"Shouldn't you be the only one who is exempted from that category?" A forbidden question was asked.

Rage.

"The hell?"

Oops. Perhaps the ravenette should have been careful with what she says.

"W-wait, Suzu-chan! That was just a j—!"

Hanako cut her of this time as she was already cracking her knuckles.

"Don't you DARE exempt me from that category! Like you're one to talk!"

* * *

Makoto winced again as she rubbed her right arm to ease the pain of the punch that she'd just received from the fumming auburn haired girl next to her.

The duo were currently waking towards the Sakanoshita store to buy yakisoba bread.

"Ah... Shiiit!"

Hanako glanced at the pained idiot walking beside her, wincing the hell of her life from the light punch she got. "Oi."

The ravenette grunted before replying. "What?"

"That punch wasn't heavy at all, how are you so pained?" The auburn haired girl asked incredulously.

Makoto turned away with a scoff and replied, "There's a difference between 'punching' and being 'punched'."

"And that means..?" Hanako trailed off.

"I'm not used to it."

"Pfft." A muffled laugh squeaked its way out of Hanako's mouth despite being covered by both of her hands.

Makoto sighed irritatedly, obviously loosing her temper at every muffled laugh she heard. "The hell's so funny, Cheshire?"

Her previously laughing companion sobbered up a bitand wiped the formed tears of her eyes off. Another chuckle escaping her mouth, the saphire eyed girl replied, "I thought that you're a Volleyball player! Aren't you supposed to be inflicted to pain or something? Don't tell you mellowed out already?"

Crossing her arms, Makoto replied with a frown. "That was a ball, not a fist of a gorilla!"

"You're just a fragile little girl~"

"Am not... THE HELL YA' CALLIN' LITTLE?!"

"Oh. We're here." Hanako said as they stopped in front of a somewhat small store. There was a sign **Sakanoshita** written above the entrance, so it must the place where they're buying lunch at.

Makoto turned to Hanako who was slightly drooling, probably thinking about what to eat again.

 _Gross... Like I'm one to talk, I'm probably worse than she is..._

"Sakime-chan, let's go already! I'm hungry~" Whined the taller of the two.

 _Am I forgetting about something..?_

"Suzu-chan, wait." Makoto called out for the auburn haired girl who was already approaching the store's clerk.

Hanako tilted her head at the side in confusion and blinked a few times. "What is it, Sakime-chan?"

"Don't ever think about getting away after calling me **little**..." Makoto placed her hand on Hanako's shoulder and pulled out an intimidating expression.

Hanako's face lost all of its color at the sight of Makoto's frightening expresssion. Even the store's clerk was slowly hiding his face in the magazine he was reading.

"Fuck..."

* * *

"Mmmm~! The yakisoba breads here are more delicious than the ones in Yamagata!" Makoto moaned in delight as she devoured the said yakisoba bread in her hands.

"..."

Hanako stared at Makoto blankly, speechless at the sight of her eating. Ever since Makoto started eating, Hanako somewhat forgotten hers, held in her right hand half-eaten.

Honestly, who wouldn't be surprised as her? Sitting next to her was Makoto delightedy eating her lunches. Apparently, Makoto had bought five yakisoba breads, three pork buns, and a large carton of fresh milk.

Finishing the third yakisoba bread, Makoto grabbed another one from her desk for her to devour once again.

 _How can such a small body handle so much food without problems? Does she digest the food the moment she finishes? Where does all these nutrients go?_

Questions started to flood Hanako's mind though in reality she was actually staring at Makoto's (undeniably pretty, as she hated to admit) pretty face. With the last question echoing through her head, her eyes seem to gain life of its own. One moment she was staring at the ravenette's face, the next she knew was her eyes were starting to dart downward, and downward, and _downward_.

The moment her eyes landed on something fairly recognizable, Hanako turned away with a scowl. Not only was she annoyed, there was also a hint of jealousy flashing through her sapphire eyes.

Finishing the fifth yakisoba bread, Makoto then proceeded to eat the pork buns. Hanako's eye twitched at this. Quickly finishing her nearly forgotten yakisoba bread, she immediately drank her apple juice somewhat furiously.

Gulping down the last sip of juice, Hanako inwardly scowled as she threw her trashes away. She sat back down to her seat and supported her head with her palm. She blankly stared at Makoto who already finished her pork buns.

 _I just took my eyes off her for a second and she's already done... That was fast._

Sighing deeply, Hanako waited for Makoto to finish drinking the huge carton of milk.

 _She drinks a lot of milk yet she's pretty much shorter than most girls around our age... I think it's obvious where those nutrients go now._

Hanako felt her eyes landing on a certain area again. She quickly turned away of course, but not without a scowl on her face.

 _Why the hell I care about such trivial things, anyway? It's all in the genes after all..._

Hanako glanced at the area one last time.

 _Damn... They remind me of those bowl sized gelatin... Why do I feel so infuriated right now?_

Noticing that Makoto gulped down the last of the milk carton's contents, Hanako sighed in relief.

"Oi."

"Hmm?" Confused, Makoto turned to her cluelessly.

Hanako gave her an incredulous look before poiting at the about to be disposed wrappings. "Is your stomach a black hole or something? How can you eat that much?"

"That much, you say? It's the usual amount of food I eat everyday." Makoto stated in a matter of factly.

Hanako quirked an eyebrow at the process. "Did you ever get a stomach ache after eating that much?"

The gluttonous ravenette shook her head in response. "No, I don't."

"Eh... Athletes have it easy..." Mused the auburn haired girl as she leaned at the back of her chair.

Leaning her face to her right palm, Makoto glanced at the vacant seat on her left. "Say..." She started.

"Hmm?" That seemed to catch Hanako's attention once again.

Makoto gestured to the vacant seat next to her. "Where's the kid sitting beside me? Haven't seen him since yesterday."

Hanako sighed deeply then replied, "Apparently, he got a week of house arrest after having a fight with the Vice Principal."

"He had a fight with the Vice Principal?" Makoto asked in disbelief, wide-eyed at his new piece of information.

The auburn haired girl nodded in reply. "Not only was he suspended, he was also pulled out from the advanced classes and got banned from club activities for a whole month!"

Holding her hands up as she shook her head in denial, Makoto decided to let this new information sink in her mind before replying. "One week of house arrest makes sense but banning him from club activities AND pulling him out of an advanced class?! Isn't that too unfair for him?"

"Oh. About the fact that he got pulled out from an advanced class as a punishment, that was just an exaggeration but it did happened. Apparently, I heard that he's struggling one of the subjects or two... But I agree that banning him from club activities is a bit too much..." Hanako trailed off with a thoughtful look.

This time, Makoto leaned in her left paml, and quirked an eyebrowto her auburn-haired companion. "Say, were you classmates with this guy?"

"Pfft... What?" Hanako supressed a laugh and faced the purple eyed girl.

"Sakime, just how smart do you think was I?" Not waiting for a reply the sapphire eyed girl crossed her arms and let out a small chuckle.

"I can't be classmates with that guy, I'm too dumb to be in one of those advanced classes!"

Makoto blinked a few times then asked, almost accusingly, and pointed at her companin. "Then how did you know so much?!"

The taller of the two just shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. "Rumors. They were on fire last year."

"Ehh... Is that so?" Pouting a bit, Makoto blew the longer tuff of hair falling across her nose away.

Quirking an eyebrow, Hanako curiously asked, "Why so crestfallen, purple eyes?"

Still pouting, Makoto replied almost gibberishly, "It's kind of a bummer, actually."

"Eh? How so?"

Makoto scratched the back of her head in the most sheepish way as possible, as if it was actually possible.

"Well... He just seems to be the type of guy that I would definitely LOVE to be friends with," she explained.

This response raised one of Hanako's eyebrows. "Are you sure? I heard that he's a troublemaker and quite obnoxious as well."

"Better."

* * *

 _ **Why are the blazers shorter than the vests? Shouldn't it be the other way around?**_

That was actually the first impression that Makoto had on the female uniforms of Karasuno.

After her first day of school, Makoto refused to wear the vest and blazer again. So instead of the common get up, she wore a sweatshirt instead. It black in color and even has the **NIKE** in front along with the check.

Makoto liked the modification better, it's more comfortable than the balzer & vest combination.

" Arashi demo kizutsukanai... Takai basho kara janai to... Miru koto dekinai sekai... Issho ni mitakunai? " With headphones on, Makoto softly sang **Wings** by the British girl group Mega Mix as she went her way home.

Her aunt's house is fairly close to school, about a 15 minute walk and 4 minute run. After her talk with Hanako during lunch break, she can't help herself but to think about this troublemaking student that was apparently house arrested from school for a whole week.

Feeling a bit restless, Makoto shook her thoughts away and decided to focus on her way instead.

A few seconds had passed, and oh the stressful Makoto was not feeling any better.

 _Some Garigari-kun popsicles will help me cool my head down for a bit..._

Looking around for a moment, a smile made its way to Makoto's face at the sight of no one nearby.

 _Perhaps a small detour wouldn't hurt anyway... Of course! I shall inform Sayuri-san with the change of plans!_

Whipping out her smartphone, the ravenette typed almost determinedly by the face she's making.

To: Auntie Sayuri

Sayuri-san! The usual time to get back will be delayed because of hunger strike. I'm craving for Garigari-kun's popsicles as of this moment. Be back around five. 

¡Nos vemos más tarde!

¡Te quiero, tía!

Grinning once again, Makoto shove her ohine back to her skirt pocket. She also took her headphones off and hung it around her neck.

With one turn taken, she immediately took sight of the familiar store near Sakanoshita.

 **"Garigari-kun"**

Makoto, again, immediately entered the store, not taking notice of the silhouette next to her. Her nose was greeted by the familiar scent of mixed flavours surrounding the warm room. Taking a seat by the counter, it's obvious that Makoto already knew what she wanted.

"One soda flavoured popsicle please!" Makoto ordered cheerful along with another voice, it belongs to a male though.

The ravenette turned to her left and saw a stranger looking at her in a way that she does to him. Makoto stared at him and the stranger stared back, so she took this time as an opportunity to inspect him while waiting for her popsicle.

The stranger looked about the same age as she does, no doubt. She noticed that his eyes, an all too familiar looking eyes, almost have the same shape as hers, except for the coffee brown colour and shorter lashes. They were indeed captivating enough that she found herself staring into them deeper. But his eyes weren't his most prominent feature, it was his hair. Like hers, the guy also has bicoloured hair. But instead having natural raven black and dyed light purple like hers, his was a natural dark brown with dyed dirty blonde and is spiked upwards to make himself look taller.

 _Ohohoho? He has great taste too! Look at his handsome face staring at me while still managing to keep a serious look. Look at him rocking that outfit out! This guy got SWAG!_

Makoto thought as she inspected the stranger's clothing. Long sleeved black shirt with a **"One time, one meeting"** calligrahy written in white ink under an opened short-sleeved black and white checkered polo, black jeans, and white sneakers. But if his hair wasn't spiked upwards, he would've rocked a gray beanie to finish the look.

But those aren't what sets Makoto off, in was in fact something that not even the ravenette can point out. Reluctantly, she called out to the good-looking stranger next to her. "Oi, dude with the spiky hair."

The stranger turned to her at the mention of his hairstyle and it seems that he's trying not to look nervous. "Uh... Yes?"

Trying to keep a straight face, she asked, "How tall exactly are you?"

"Ha?" The guy looked at her with wide eyes, he quickly avoided her gaze. "159.3 centimeters..."

"Hmm..." The ravenette fummed with a deeply thoughtful look. "159.3 centimeters... That's... No way!" She snapped her eyes open and turned to him with her mouth agaped.

"W-what?" The guy stuttered, uncomfortable as he averted his eyes away from hers.

Makoto leaned closer to him in excitement. "You're the same as I am!"

The bicolour haired guy quickly turned to her with a slight look of relief. "Really? You're not even a millimeter taller than I do?!"

Makoto shook her head cheerfully. "Nope! Not at all! Though my mom is like 20 centimeters taller than I am..."

"Ooh! Same goes for me! People thought that I was adopted or something since my parents are HUGE!" The guy exaggerated the word 'huge' by spreading his arms out wide.

"You should've seen my dad! He's like two METERS tall!" Makoto chirped with a hint of jealousy.

Placing his hand on her shoulder, the guy playfully comforted her. "I know how you feel, my friend."

The two looked at each other for a few seconds then burst out in laughter from their silliness.

"Here are your popsicles, you kids..." The worker gave them their respective frozen treats. They both payed money almost simultaneously again.

"Thank you!"

The two exited the shop and went to the same direction.

"No way! You also like the soda flavour?!" The guy exclaimed, almost like a kid.

Makoto took a huge bite happily then replied, "Of course! Soda flavour is the BEST! It's sweet and helps me to get things out of my mind!"

The guy laughed whole-heartedly then flashed her a roguish grin. "I know right?! It's one of the greatest stress reliever!"

Makoto slightly giggled in response.

 _I feel like I'm forgetting something again... Oh!_

"Oh right!" The ravenette exclaimed, making the guy to look at her in confusion.

She brought out her fist for him to bump. "The name's Makoto. Makoto Murasakime! Let's be friends from now on!"

"Like wise, Miss Purple-eyes!" The guy grinned then bumped her fist with his own.

"The name's Yuu. Yuu Nishinoya!"

* * *

Author's Note: And finally done!

It's like 00:00 in the morning here already, so I better get some sleep.

So what do you guys think of the first ever chapter? Tell me your thoughts right away!

PS: Makoto's surname "Murasakime" literally means "Purple Eyes"

紫-Murasaki-purple

目-me-eyes

See you guys in the next chapter!

~松原文子ちゃん


	4. Introduction

Courage

Chapter 2: Introduction

 _"I knew the second I met you that there was something about you I needed. Turns out that it wasn't about you at all. It was just you."_ ** _-Jamie Mcb_** ** _uire_**

 _"Something about her smile gives me that fuzzy feeling and warmth. As long as I am by her side, I will not let anyone take that smile away..."_ ** _-Anonymous_**

* * *

"Yeah, I'll be attending school next week and the ban from Club activities will be lifted by next month... I know I should have been more careful that time... Well it already happened so I can't complain... Again, I'm sorry for giving you the trouble... Really, I mean it! Thanks for understanding me though... I guess I'll see you again this weekend. I love you, Mom! Bye!"

Pressing the end call on his smartphone, Yuu Nishinoya sighed for the hundredth time of the day as he walked away from the subway station. Today is one of those days that the loud libero was not so loud at all, one of those days that he felt drained all of a sudden.

Ever since his mother was alerted about the recent trouble he got himself into, she had been constantly asking him to visit her in Yamagata twice every week throughout the whole spring vacation. This has been going on for a while now, but today was when she actually confronted him about the trouble he's into.

His mother Akino Nishinoya is the coach of a Powerhouse School in Yamagata. Apparently, her team have been constantly winning the Nationals due to the harsh training she had been giving them for the past 5 years. Akino had moved to Yamagata and stayed there when her son is already in his first year of high school.

On the other hand, his father, Haruto Nishinoya, has been working overseas for almost ten years already, owning one of the best selling restaurants in Athens, Greece. With both of his parents having such high salary jobs, Yuu had been living his life quite easily.

Though he may not have any problems regarding his school's tuition fees or monthly allowances, he pays for the price of his luxury by living alone for almost 2 years.

Akino always visits him during the weekends to check on him or to see if he was doing good by himself. During her visits, it's one of those opportunities for him to act like an actual fun-loving high schooler in his home by being laid back throughout the weekend while his mother just do all the chores for him, like a mother would do for her child.

During the holidays, his father would come back home with an uncanny grin and they would always have a family dinner until the end of holidays.

Other than having the usual family dinners, the Nishinoya family would go to various places such as Kyoto, Okinawa, and Hokkaido. Sometimes the family would spend the holidays outside the country. To Yuu, the best place that he and his family went to was when they watched the Volleyball nationals in Brazil.

With all the things that they've done while they were complete, Yuu never once felt that he was all alone. He knew that his parents were always there for him, supporting him in many ways and always made sure that he was doing fine alone.

With all this lingering thoughts crossing his mind several times already, he just realized how lucky he has been for having such supportive parents.

Remembering today's events is making him feel guilty all of a sudden. He is fully aware that his parents are working hard enough for his future volleyball career or college expenses. To think that he easily got suspended for losing his cool, he can't really imagine how worried his parents are for him.

Surely thoughts like these shouldn't have been lingering in the mind of the bohemian libero due to his wild personality but the way the situation brought itself upon him, this is one of those times that he can't help but to think deeply.

Snapping out his reverie, Yuu stopped in his tracks once he saw the bus stop.

 _Great, just what I need._

Yuu inwardly sighed in relief as he entered the nearly deserted bus. After paying the bus driver, he took a seat at the very back by the window. As soon as the bus started to move, Yuu went back to his thoughts.

He looked at his right arm then pulled his long sleeve up to his elbow. He inspected his right arm and flinched at the sight of many bruises almost covering his entire arm; the same could be said for the other.

 _The bruises are still here, fresh and swelling as they should be. Guess I might have to refrain for today._

Other than keeping an eye on him, the actual reason why Akino asked her son to visit Yamagata was that she could help him train.

Pushing his right sleeve to hide the bruises, Yuu leaned back to his chair to continue with thoughts once again.

Clicking his tongue, Yuu glared at the back of the vacant seat in front of him.

 _I will so go all out to tomorrow morning..!_

Block - follow ups.

A type of dig that is not in favour with Yuu's high calibre skills. To be honest, this is the training that he had been given by his mother whenever one of them visits the other.

Yuu spent his whole entire spring vacation training and training to improve his block - follow ups. His mother had been strict towards him, giving him advice, correcting his basic mistakes, and making sure he takes things slow. After a few weeks, Yuu can definitely tell that he improved drastically with his new found skill. He is definitely proud with his progress, always yelling out triumphantly after every ball he saved.

The libero found himself smiling lightly at the vivid memory of his mother's dumbstruck expression at the sight of him saving the ball for the first time after a lot of failures.

 _But it's not enough yet..._

The smile crumbled instantly at the thought.

Since the training that his mother gave him is very spartan, sometimes he would forget the reason behind his motivation to master Block - follow ups.

Training tomorrow morning is going to be difficult for him. Not only he needs to find a place to train at, but he also needs someone to practice with.

His best buddy, Ryunosuke Tanaka or 'Ryu' as he liked to call him, is definitely out of the question. Since it's the weekdays, it's likely that Ryu would be attending school.

Visiting Yamagata is not a good option ss well, or else he would spend all of his monthly allowance for the travelling expenses. Not only that, but his house arrest will be lifted by next week, so he wouldn't be able to visit Yamagata even if he wanted to.

Sneaking inside the school's gymnasium is not a good idea for him or else he would be digging his own grave if he did, especially the fact that he's banned from club activities.

Perhaps practicing with the girls' team may not be a bad idea, but he needs to wait until next week before he gets to attend school.

Massaging his temples to ease the building stress within him, Yuu groaned in frustration. To make things even worse, the bus suddenly came to a stop. Due to the sudden force, Yuu fell forward from his seat immediately, with his face planted on the platform.

He quickly stood up to his feet, shaking his head vigorously as he approached the exit. He gave the bus driver a small thanks before stepping out of the vehicle.

Once he's out in the open, Yuu gazed around his surroundings. Seeing the familiar streets of Torono made him to sigh in contentment. Being back home always calmed him down from the stress he builds whenever he visits Yamagata.

Yuu's face became blank once again as he gazed at the sky. It was no doubt afternoon, as the sun is already on the west. The air around him became all gloomy again. He would be training with Ryu and everyone else if he wasn't suspended in the first place, Daichi-san would be buying them meat buns on the way home, and he wouldn't be walking all alone.

What was he thinking in the first place? He shouldn't have let his anger get the better of him. He shouldn't have shoved the dean away. He should've been more quiet. He shouldn't have quarrelled with-!

 ** _"I kept the ball in the air... so it's not your place to give up! "_**

Gasping slightly, Yuu shook his head furiously at the sudden sound of his own voice echoing in his mind. The fight, it was something that he wanted to forget for so long. It was the day when they lost, it was the day when they have been cornered, it was the day when they argued, and it was the day when they broke apart.

Yuu winced at the memory, evident in the twitching of his eyes. He proceeded to go back home, scratching his head in frustration.

Ah, now he remembered why he wanted to improve his block follow ups.

A few minutes have passed and the libero is already halfway through home. The look he had in his eyes obviously shown that he hasn't calmed down one bit. Clicking his tongue once more, Yuu looked around and noticed the all too familiar street that he is about to pass by.

He smiled in relief and turned to the left.

 _Garigari-kun always helps me to calm down!_

* * *

"Oi. Dude with the spiky hair." A female voice called out to him.

Yuu turned to face the girl who called him with his hairstyle reluctantly.

The girl is definitely the same age as him, he can clearly tell. Her unusual yet beautiful purple slanted eyes fringed with long and thick lashes met with his own coffee brown ones. Slightly thick and arched eyebrows, slightly pale and round face, well-proportioned nose, rosy cheeks, slightly prominent forehead, and soft light pink lips; she is definitely one hell of a beauty. Her lustrous straight raven hair was long enough to reach her hips; long bangs parted on the left side with ends reaching below her chest; and some of her hair were pulled in a side ponytail with a pink ribbon. In that ponytail, longer strands of hair were dyed light purple that blends well with the rest of her raven stresses.

Yuu found him self inwardly blushing at his description of the pretty girl looking at him. Snapping back to reality, he replied, "Uh... yes?"

He was nervous, of course. This is Yuu Nishinoya who we're talking about. The loud-mouthed libero who is unexpectedly shy towards girls he hasn't met before, especially the pretty ones, like this one looking at him.

Of course, who wouldn't be nervous if they were put in this situation? Have a beautiful girl staring at you with a straight face, literally leaning towards you the longer she pauses; wouldn't it be nerve - wrecking for a poor guy like Yuu?

The movement of the raven haired beauty's lips caught Yuu's attention. He was actually eager to know why this girl suddenly called out to him. It was really confusing, what could this beautiful goddess want from an idiot like him? He wanted to know-!

"How tall exactly are you?" The girl asked straightforwardly.

Wait... What?

Yuu felt an arrow striking him with immense force.

"Hah?" He looked at the girl with wide eyes, mouth agape in shock. He was not expecting that question to come out of her mouth, let alone to him. Was this how this girl talk to people she just met? If so, then how brave can this beauty be?

Noticing that he had been staring at her for too long, he quickly averted his gaze from her to the counter table. Reluctantly, he replied, "159.3 centimeters..."

Yuu never felt so embarrassed about mentioning his height at all, he would usually yell it out loud with great confidence. But this girl, whose name he doesn't even know yet, just took all of his confidence away with just her voice. How did she do it? He doesn't know. But one thing he found out about this girl was that she is incredibly friendly with strangers like him.

"No way!"

Suddenly the girl's face is in front of him again, but this time closer. The sudden invasion of personal space made him blush visibly. Not wanting the girl to see him flustered over such thing, he avoided her gaze by looking at the left.

This however only made the girl too lean closer to him. He may not be able to see her face with the way he's facing the other way, but he could clearly tell that she's pretty giddy with the way she's been trembling with excitement.

 _Why is she acting so familiar with me as if she knew me for a long time? So what now? Is she going to mock me for my-!_

"Same!" The girl's enthusiastic voice snapped him out of his thoughts. He didn't catch what she was saying so he briefly casted a glance at her.

"C-come again?" Yuu asked, still avoiding her gaze.

The girl leaned even closer to him with her eyes shining in excitement.

"You're the same height as I am!"

Eyes widen slightly, Yuu quickly turned towards the girl with a slight look of relief.

 ** _"You're the same height as I am!"_**

 _It's almost the same..._

"Really? You're not even a millimeter taller than I am?!"

All the nervousness were easily washed away.

The pretty girl eagerly shook her head. "Nope! Not at all!" She paused, she paused and chuckled a bit before she continued, "Though my mom is like 20 centimeters taller than I am..."

Yuu grinned at that. "Same goes for me! People thought that I was adopted or something since my parents are like HUGE!" Spreading his arms out widely, Yuu emphasized the word **huge** comically.

The girl, as if she was playing along, crossed her arms and nodded her head in agreement. "You should've seen my dad! He's like two METERS tall!"

Yuu doesn't know, but something about this girl made him to be strangely comfortable talking to her. He had no problems expressing his thoughts, and surely he doesn't need to sugarcoat his words to her. It was so weird and amazing at the same time that he felt that they could be really good friends in no time.

 _She's an incredibly friendly girl..._

Yuu felt a smile coming out of his lips slightly at the thought.

 _She reminds me of someone too..._

Comforting her playfully, Yuu leaned towards and placed his hand on her shoulder, patting it slowly.

"I know how you feel, my friend." He cited dramatically, maybe a bit too dramatic since the girl is giving him an incredulous look.

The girl then casted a glance at his hand and let out a small chuckle.

But it seems that their mini - role play has to end since one if the workers of the shop was already walking towards them with two similar popsicles in hand. "Here are your popsicles, you kids..." He called out as he handed the two their respective frozen treats (even though they're just the same).

At the same time, the duo pulled their money out and payed the worker in sync.

Just as the worker took their money, the two turned to each other in amusement. They blinked a few times in unison before letting out a few small laughs.

* * *

"Oh! I almost forgot!" The girl suddenly exclaimed, startling Yuu as he looked at her in confusion.

The girl reached her right fist out for him to bump with his own. "The name's Makoto! Makoto Murasakime! Let's be friends from now on!" The girl now named Makoto introduced herself to him enthusiastically.

 _Makoto... Murasakime? You have got to be kidding me._ _Is that why her eyes are purple? Or is that why she can be too honest?_ Yuu grinned roguishly at the thought of the origin of her name.

"Likewise! The name's Yuu. Yuu Nishinoya! Nice to meet you, pretty girl with beautiful purple eyes!" He introduced himself to Makoto with the same gesture, bumping his fist with hers like the way he does with Ryu.

Makoto felt a smile crawling on her face at the compliment. Tucking some of her loose hair behind her ear, she slightly laughed sheepishly and fought the urge to blush visibly.

"Aww~ Stop it, Nishinoya-kun! You're making ne blush all of a sudden with that compliment!"

Yuu chuckled at that, still grinning like there's no tomorrow. "If you say so... But it's true though! They're so vibrant and shiny it lifts my spirit up every time I stare at them!"

"Thanks..." The ravenette smiled at that, slowing her steps down before gazing at the orange tinged sky. Yuu, being the gentleman he is for now, walked at her pace, not his letting eyes wander off of her.

"Anyone who has my family name all had purple eyes..." Makoto stated while still looking above.

"Is that so?" The brunette asked, taking the last bite of his popsicles. He then shoved the stick into his pocket, not noticing that the ravenette was doing the same thing at the same time.

Makoto nodded her head before looking at the road again. "Although everyone has purple eyes, my Mom told me that mine were the only ones this colourful and that everyone else's, including hers, are in a different shade."

"I see..." Yuu trailed off, making the ravenette to face him this time while he stared aimlessly at the road. "I get told a lot that I got most of my facial features from my mom and that the only thing that I got from my dad is his hair colour and gender. You could have seen the look he has on his face whenever Mom points it out."

Makoto stared at him for a bit before letting out a small chuckle. Bit by bit, the chuckle turned into a laugh. A few moments later, Yuu joined in.

After they sobered up, the two slowly walk together in silence. It wasn't an awkward silence were they feel uneasy with each other, it was a comfortable silence that is calming and refreshing that puts the two in ease.

"Say, Nishinoya-kun," Makoto started aa she faced the brunette.

Yuu smiled a bit at her and said, "Just 'Noya' is fine, Murasakime-san."

Returning the same gesture, Makoto replied, "You can also call me 'Sakime' since my family name is too long."

"Then Sakime-chan it is!" He grinned and said, "So, you were saying?"

"Oh right!" Makoto went in front of him and started walking backwards. "I was wondering, actually, if you know someone named Akino Nishinoya?"

The spiky haired brunette blinked twice, then answered almost incredulously, "She's my Mom, of course."

"SHE'S YOUR MOM?!" The ravenette exclaimed, looking at him with her eyes widen and mouth opened.

"Well, of course she is. Why else would we share the same family name?"

"Oh." Makoto went back to the same pace as him quietly. As if out of habit, she pulled some of the purple strands of her hair and started twirling it with her fingers. "I didn't even know that she was married, let alone have a son who is at my age!"

"So that's how it is..." Yuu trailed off. He knew how his mother is the type to be unlikely in a relationship.

 _I remember when dad told me how scary Mom was when he first met her in high school. Come to think of it, Mom is usually scary when she's angry or in "Coach Mode". I kinda felt bad for Sakime-chan if she only saw that side of mom._

 _Wait..._

Looking at Makoto almost accusingly, Yuu asked, "How come you knew my Mom, Sakime-chan?"

Makoto, a bit too honestly, answered almost immediately. "She was my coach during my golden times."

"She was your... coach? How?"

The ravenette let out a chuckle and glanced at the confused brunette. "Tell me, Noya-kun? Don't I look familiar to you? "

Yuu quirked an eyebrow at that. "Hah?"

Makoto stopped from her tracks and faced him sharply; the latter doing the same. The more she approaches him, the more he backs away. When Yuu was cornered at the nearby wall behind, Makoto leaned closer to him, looking at him deadly in the eye.

Yuu was horribly confused.

 _W-what's going on? Why is she suddenly so cautious around me? Did I make a mistake? Could this be the end of our newly formed friendship? Is she going to hate me for this? W-wait, why are her hands behind her back..? DON'T. TELL. ME. Is she planning to stab me with a KNIFE?! She's so scary..!_

Something about this girl frightened Yuu the most; whether it's because of the emotionless stare she's giving him or the fact that her mood quickly went down to -15 degrees. Rays of the setting sun radiated from her vibrant eyes, giving them that threatening glint. Beads of sweat from his temples rolled down to his jaw. Yuu looked at the ravenette automatically.

Makoto closed her eyes, sighing exasperatedly as she leaned back and took a step away. Yuu let out the breath he had been unconsciously holding for a while so suddenly. He gave the ravenette a look, the latter slapped her forehead in irritation.

"You."

"Yes..?"

She took his hand and pulled him away from the wall. She ushered him to continue walking with her.

Yuu, who was slightly shaking from earlier, hesitantly complied. As they walked; the soothing silence soon became awkward for him and he would sometimes steal glances at her. Seeing her relax expression made him feel more uneasy, especially the fact that she hasn't said anything else yet. Here he was, blindly following her without knowing where she's taking him to.

Makoto suddenly took a turn to the right with Yuu following her, going straight to a deserted park. He gave the girl a questioning look, the latter rolled her eyes at that. She saw a bench near a vending machine and ran to it.

She looked at Yuu and patted the arm of the bench, gesturing him to take a seat there. Again, Yuu complied automatically, taking a seat with his eyes following Makoto's movements.

"I'll buy us some drinks over there so stay here and don't run away, okay?" She asked him, pointing at the nearby vending machine with her thumb.

Yuu nodded a bit in silence. Suddenly, his eyes widened and he jolted up from his seat. "Wait, shouldn't I be the one who buys the drinks? You're using your money after all!" He exclaimed.

Makoto her head in response before smiling lightly at him."No, it's my treat. You looked so stressed right now and I wanted to make it up to you..."

"Ah, I see..." Yuu went back to his seat with a sigh. He looked at her and asked, "Is it really that obvious?"

Makoto let out a chuckle at that and replied, "Yeah, it is."

Fishing out her wallet out from her bag, she asked, "So, do you like milk?"

"It's not my favorite but I often drink it." The spiky haired brunette replied, sheepishly scratching his head.

"Fresh or chocolate?" The ravenette asked, flashing him a very sweet grin.

The latter grinned back at her roguishly and replied, "Chocolate, of course!"

"Okay, then. I'll be right back and don't try to escape, alright?" Then she walked away.

"I won't!" He called out.

 _Damn... Her mood changes so fast..! Is this how being friends with girls actually like?_

Yuu sighed tiredly as he slouched in the bench. Be blinked continuously before he started tapping his chin with his index finger.

 _Come to think of it, she said that my mom is her coach. Does that mean she also plays Volleyball? Man, this is like, my second time being friends with a GIRL who also plays volleyball. Wait, the only school that my mom is coaching is the female National champions! Hatoyama, was it? Does that mean she also goes to Hatoyama? She must be good then if it was my mom who coached her... What is she doing here in Miyagi? Shouldn't she be training with the other girls? Is she a regular?_

Scratching his head in annoyance, Yuu then crossed his arms while sighing exasperatedly.

 _I knew I should've payed more attention to the girls' side but I was too busy lamenting at our loss..._

"Here you go, Noya-kun." Suddenly, his field of view was blocked by a a small carton of chocolate milk. Yuu looked up to see Makoto smiling brightly at him.

"Ah, thanks." He gladly took the milk from her and poked the lid with its straw. Makoto, on the other hand, sat beside him. She took a little sip from her fresh milk before she faced him.

" _You_." She spoke in English almost automatically.

Yuu looked at her in confusion and asked, "Are you referring to me or my name?"

"Eh?" Was all Makoto could say as she tried to process what the spiky-haired guy replied to her. After a minute had passed, she face slowly glowed in bright red, nearly dropping her beloved cartom milk.

Yuu was definitely amused with this reaction. He wasn't expecting Makoto to blush at his remark, it makes her kinda cute to be honest.

Beginning to gain her composure, Makoto faked a cough before she faced Yuu once again. "O-of course, I'm referring to you!" Then she turned away slightly and grumbled under her breath, "I just completely forgot that outside Hatoyama, people hardly speak English..."

Yuu chuckled this time at that. "So... You were saying?" He reminded her. Makoto then slightly jolted up from her seat and quickly faced him intensively.

"Okay then. Since your mother is a coach, does that mean you somewhat played volleyball?" She started.

"Yep. Volleyball is my sport. I was a part of the team at our school." He answered honestly.

"For how long have you been playing?"

"Since kindergarten, I guess?"

"Really? Same here. What's your position then?"

"Is that so? That's great! Um... Uh, I'm the Libero!"

Makoto quirked an eyebrow, amused by the way he said his position with such confidence. Baffled, she asked.

"Why?"

"Why? It's be because I love receiving!" He replied enthusiastically, making the ravenette smile a bit.

"Which Junior High did you come from, Noya-kun?"

"Kara–! Oh, wait. Junior High? Chidoriyama!" Yuu corrected himself.

 _Kara– what? Wait a minute..._

" **CHIDORIYAMA**?!" Wide eyed, Makoto exclaimed loudly.

Grinning, Yuu proudly confirmed it to her, "Yep!"

"Didn't they went to the nationals during the Spring Middle two years ago?!"

"Uh huh! By that time, I was still their official libero! Didn't retire like what the other third years!" He informed to her.

"Does that mean you're the super libero I kept hearing about who won the Best Libero Award here?!"

"You're right! Though I still have a long way to go, I'm an awesome Libero!" Yuu loudly exclaimed with unwavering pride.

"Is that so? Does that mean you're always updated in Volleyball Monthly?!"

"Mmm... Not much. It only depends on my mood."

"Eh..? Does that mean you barely pay any attention to the female side?" Makoto asked hopefully, crestfallen all of a sudden.

Laughing sheepishly, Yuu apologized, "I'm sorry, Sakime-chan. As of now, I'm too busy to pay attention to anything else."

"Guess I was hopeful for nothing, is that it?" Frowning a bit, Makoto mumbled under her breath.

Surprisingly, Yuu was able to pick up what she said. "Hey, at least you've gained more information about me, a total high school stranger you just met a while ago."

Makoto let out a small chuckle then nudged him with her shoulder. "Hey now, I just told you a while ago. We're friends now, so you're no stranger to me, Noya-kun."

"Thanks." Yuu gave her a sincere smile before taking a big sip from his chocolate milk, finishing it in an instance, he waved it around her and said, "Watch this."

With one arm, Yuu threw it at the nearby trash bin, shooting through the half-opened lid. At his success, he turned to her and flashed her a roguish grin. "How's that?"

Makoto's reaction was definitely amusing. Her eyes sparkled in fascination, like a kid seeing a magic show for the first time.

"That's so awesome!" She exclaimed then quickly looked at her half contained drink. She finished it all with one huge sip and passed it to Yuu which he caught it with ease.

"One more!" She ordered him playfully which he complied.

"Alrighty then."

Then the same result happened once again, he was able to shoot the empty milk carton inside the half-opened trash bin.

Amazed, Makoto poked Yuu's right shoulder several times. Once the spikey-haired brunette turned to her, she eagerly asked, "Teach me to do that one day!"

Yuu smiled in response. "I'd be glad to."

Pumping her fist in mid-air, Makoto inwardly made a victory dance. Once she calmed down, she leaned back to her seat with a contented smile and faced Yuu, who was sporting the same facial expression.

"Hey, since you honestly told me a lot about you, why don't I return the favour?" Calmly, she asked him.

Yuu blinked twice then shook his head in response. "What? You know, you don't have to do–!"

"You're probably wondering why I acted that way when you asked me about your mom being my coach, right?" Makoto cut him off with an apologetic smile.

 ** _"Tell me, Noya-kun. Don't I look familiar to you?"_**

Yes, he remembered what happened a while ago a bit too clearly. It wasn't a very pleasant reminder to him. The way she became so silent, the way she held that look void of emotion, and the way her bright eyes held a very dark glint, it frightening to him. As much as he wanted to say to her how scary she was back then, Yuu cannot find the courage to say it to her, especially when she's looking at him apologetically like that.

It makes him less manly if he hurt a girl's feelings, especially when that girl already claimed to be his friend.

"Yeah..."

Makoto sighed at his reluctant response, gesturing him to prepare for another round of Q and A. "Let's start then. You probably figured it out that I went to Hatoyama, right?"

"Well, yeah. You kinda mentioned it a while ago..."

"I did? Oh, never mind. But have you ever wondered why I'm here in Miyagi?"

"I was just thinking about that when you went to the vending machine."

"Is that so? Tell me, do you think that I'm a regular or not?"

"With the way you asked me that so sudden, you're definitely a regular."

"Take a guess. What's my position?"

"How am I suppose to know?"

"Come on. Just take a guess!"

"Fine. You're definitely not a libero, that I could tell from a distance. Considering that you're looking at me like that, I might have to take a guess that you're a Wing Spiker."

"BINGO! So, do you know anything about Hatoyama?"

"All I know about that school was that the female volleyball team was winning the nationals consecutively for almost 5 years."

"And..? And..?!" She leaned closer to him, all the while her eyes sparkled with anticipation.

"And that their Ace was the Top 1 female Wing Spiker in the country..."

"Do you have any idea who that Ace was?"

"Uh... Sorry, but no."

"That was me." Makoto answered straightforwardly.

"Oh..." Yuu trailed off, gazing up at the orange tinged sky blankly.

Then it hit him.

Just as fast as lightning, Yuu quickly turned to her with wide eyes; the latter sweetly smiled at him in return.

"Really?!"

The smile flattened a bit at the question. Makoto nodded to him and said, "Yeah... I _**was**_."

Quirking an eyebrow at her solemn expression, Yuu incredulously asked her, "Then what are you doing here in Miyagi–!"

He stopped himself when he noticed her smile turning into a frown. Yuu furrowed his eyebrows while pursing his lips in concentration. Hesitantly, he asked, "I know it's not my place to ask but, I'm curious. Did you perhaps... quit?"

Makoto gave him a look the sighed exasperatedly. "It's not like I wanted to, actually. I was just placed in a situation that was not in favour in mine that time..."

Yuu blinked in disbelief, unconsciously clenching his fist at she said to him. He felt his protective self coming back at Makoto's saddening aura.

Furious at her vulnerable appearance, Yuu loudly asked, "You got injured?!"

Makoto jolted up from her seat in surprise, startled at Yuu's sudden outburst. She looked at him quizzically then light shook her head in response. "Nope, not at all. I think it was a rare medical condition that was so sudden. As much as I wanted to tell you about it, I have no idea what it's called. My mom never let me know about it." She carefully explained to him.

Her reply somewhat calmed Yuu down. He unclenched his fists in relief. He felt that his breath was even again and his gazed soften quickly. Slightly embarrassed at his petty outburst, he scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Oh... Are you still allowed to play?"

Letting out a chuckle at his question, Makoto gave Yuu a mischievous grin. "HA! As if I'll let them forbid me from playing my favorite sport!"

Relieved, Yuu flashed her an uncanny grin then patted her on the head. "That's great then!"

"Though I won't be able to play in a team anymore..." She added, her shoulders dropping again.

Yuu, this time, patted her on the shoulder. "That's nonsense! The only sad thing that could happen to a passionate volleyball player is not being able to play again! Be happy that you still get to play!"

"Oi. That's too much skinship for today." Makoto brushed his hand off of her shoulder in embarrassment. "But you're right though."

"Then I'll save the next ones for tomorrow then, huh?" Yuu let out a few chuckles then suddenly calmed himslef down. Blinkling repeatedly, he realized something. He looked at her once again.

"You haven't told me why you're here in Miyagi, Sakime-chan."

Makoto gave him a blank look before she started to slap her forehead repeatedly, all the while continuously calling herself stupid. "Geez... What kind of idiot am I?! I was the one who mentioned it to you and yet I haven'ttold you anything about it! Damn it, I'm so stupid! BAKA MAKOTO!" She yelled, covering her face with her hands as she bent down to her knees.

The gesture made Yuu to laugh inwardly, not wanting to be rude around her. "Hey, it's okay. I also had my moments when I'm with my friends." He comforted, pulling her back up.

Gaining her composure once again, Makoto sighed for the hundredth time of the day. "My mom transfered me out of Hatoyama because I might have the temptation to sneak inside the gym to practice with the others." She told him, leaning at the back of the seat.

"And you're here in Miyagi because..?" Yuu asked again, raising his eyebrow this time.

Makoto scratched her head in embarrassment. "I'm pretty stupid when it comes to school work so she can't enroll me to closer schools. The normal ones are pretty much far away from home and I don't have a relative to live with. Since my aunt lives here, I decided to go here in Miyagi."

Yuu nodded his head in understanding. "That makes sense. And Miyagi is just next to Yamagata so you can visit your parents during the weekends."

"Yep. That's exactly what I told my mom, but she insisted me to hang out with my friends instead. Yet I only made two friends for the past two weeks, you're included in that short list, Noya-kun."

Grinning, Yuu felt his ego going up again. "Really? Then I'm honored, Sakime-chan."

Makoto slight shook her head at his prideful look. She noticed something about him again, and that was his clothes. "Say, what's with the get up anyways? You got dumped by your girlfriend or something?"

Yuu looked ather as if she grew two heads and laughed obnoxiously. Sobbering up, he replied in between chuckles, "Girlfriend? As if I'll get one so early! Nah... I went to Yamagata this morning 'cause my mom wants to talk to me."

"Eh... I see..." Makoto felt slightly crestfallen at her wrong guess but she also felt somewhat glad that the libero did not have a girlfriend.

 _He's actually too good-looking to not have a girlfriend... Maybe my eyes are playing tricks with me again... He said he went to Yamagata this morning and probably just came back. But isn't today a weekday?_

"Today's a weekday, aren't you supposed to be in school when you went there?" Quirking an eyebrow, Makoto asked as she eyed him suspiciously.

Yuu sweatdropped at the look she giving her and reluctantly answered, "Uh... about that. I got suspended for a week."

"You did?"

 _Wait, wasn't that the same story as–?_

"Yeah, I kinda lost my cool that I accidentally pushed the Vice Principal then broke a valuable vase." Yuu replied, sheepishly grinning.

With widen eyes, Makoto asked him once again, "Which school do you go now, Noya-kun?"

 _Could it be that he is–!_

"Karasuno High School."

 _It's him all right._

"WHAAT?!"

* * *

 **Author's Note: And finally done! All right! I tried to multi-task this with 9 of my school projects and I failed miserably that it took me a whole month to finish this chapter! I'M SO SORRY FOR THE DELAY!**

 **This chapter is a whole Nishinoya point of view with some bits of Makoto's. So there's that.  
**

 **You might think that it's weird that they suddenly became so close despite meeting for the first time, but that is all in the two's personalities. Makoto has never been one to be shy when talking to unfamiliar people and Noya is probably the kind of person who would befriend the strangers he meets on the streets while out for a morning run. Even though Makoto's a girl, her personality somewhat made him comfortable around her.  
**

 **Character Trivia #1: When a shy boy talks to her, Makoto's personality has the ability to make him forget that he is actually talking to a girl, thus making him act himself around her.  
**

 **Anyways, the next chapter might be out in a few weeks. Sorry for that. The thing is that I actually had the whole chapter written on a 40 paged notebook. The problem is that I don't how I can properly begin this chapet without it being too cliché. So forgive me if this take too long.  
**

 **Next Chapter: "Encounters"  
**

 **Oooh~ I wonder what that title means? Is Sakime-chan going to meet some new people or will it be the opposite?**

 **See you guys later! I'm out!**

 **~松原文子ちゃん**


	5. On the way

**Courage**

 **"On the way"**

 _"A normal friendship comes from taking time to get to know each other. A meaningful friendship comes from doing things together for a long time. A special friendship comes from growing to like the person you once hated. But the best friendship out there comes from unexpectedly liking the person the moment you meet them." – **Fumiko Matsubara**_

 _"Being friends with me equals sacrificing your own sanity."– **Makoto Murasakime**_

 _"While friendship itself has an air of eternity about it, seeming to trascend all natural limits, there is hardly any emotion so utterly at the mercy of time. We form friendships, and might grow out of them. It might almost be said that we cannot retain the faculty of friendship unless we are continually making new friends."– **Robert Hugh Benson**_

 _I will text you 50 times in a row and feel no shame. You're my friend. You literally signed up for this.– **Yuu Nishinoya**_

Breathe in...

Breathe out...

"Sakime-chan, nice serve!"

Yuu's voice rung out inside the small gymnasium.

Clad in her training gear: a white shirt with green endings, green sport shorts, black high thighs, white knee pads, and white volleyball shoes, Makoto held the ball with great concentration, not wasting any movements, steady and calm as she should be. The Molten branded volleyball was held by her left hand, her grip is tight yet clam at the same time. Eyes closed in concentration, steady breathing, and the way she held her position for quite a moment, those are the traits of a volleyball champion, especially to those who frantically trained for 13 years.

Sighing smoothly to ease the tension building up, Makoto opened her eyes calmly. Her beautiful vibrant eyes calmly held a sharp glint, a sharp glint that practically scream _"Don't mess with me!"_ to show how much dignity she held as a player.

This is her Volleyball persona. Once the happy-go-lucky, carefree, approachable, and friendly schoolgirl stepped onto the court, she is completely a different person. A normal person can already see how talented this girl is, how precise and accurate she can be, and how her presence can change the flow of the game.

"Oi." She called out, still holding her position without any struggle.

From the other side of the court, Yuu, in his own concentration, calmly replied, "Yeah?"

"You're supposed to say 'bring it on', duffoos."

Blankly staring at her, Yuu can only nod quietly in reply. Repositoning himself, he blinked his eyes slowly. When they opened again, they showed the same sharp glint that Makoto is currently holding.

Seeing this, Makoto narrowed her eyes further in thought. _Damn... Is this really Noya-kun? Just what the hell is with that immense concentration he's having? Totally different from how he acts around me..._

Yuu is also different in the court, almost as if there was a different person playing in his steed. Makoto described him as an obnoxious, carefree, cocky, and weird guy who simply gets way too fired up for his own good. But now that he's on the other side of the court, all she saw is a talented libero who's incredibly calm, extremely focused, and surprisingly calculating.

The way his eyes intensively glazed all over her, watching every bit of her movements intently like he can determine the serve by just looking at her position, Makoto is greatly convinced that this small form of great ability became the best in this prefecture. She admitted though, Yuu's concentration is actually scaring her, like her own concentration as the former Strongest spiker has no match for his, a libero who hasn't even made it to the top 5.

Internally shaking these thoughts off vehemently, Makoto called out, "Here I go!"

Unfazed, Yuu yelled in response. "BRING IT ON!"

 _That's better..._ Makoto felt the corners of her lips twitched upwards, threatening her face to smile a little. Giving up, she sent Yuu a challenging smirk that will surely rile him up.

Grinning, Yuu watched her as she tossed the ball with her left hand. Such a perfect toss... He thought. He saw her run, accelerating to jump surprisingly high, all the while maintaining a great form.

 _She sure jumps high..._

Suddenly, his eyes widen when he saw the ball meeting Makoto's left palm. She was actually serving left-handed, where the ball is going to spin differently to make it hard to receive.

 _She's left-handed?!_

Again, left handed serves are difficult to receive because of the different way it spins rapidly.

Yuu hated this.

He watched as Makoto hit the ball with such monstrous strength, sending the ball directly towards him, much faster than most serves he had to receive back in his middle school days. Not to mention she hit it left-handed, asking her to practice with him might be the best idea he ever had.

Makoto, other hand, landed gracefully inside the court. Positioning herself on the front line, she watched Yuu waiting for the ball quietly.

 _He might think the ball will go directly towards him, I did it on purpose anyways._

The ball spinned rapidly towards him, the latter waited for the ball in anticipation.

 _It's going head on..._ _Then it'll curve..._

Just as she predicted, the ball instantly curved to the right. Suddenly, the smile Makoto has on her face fell. She watched the libero with wide eyes as he quickly moved side ways, receiving the ball effortlessly.

The impact must be too strong that he nearly lost his footing, thumbling a bit before he regained his balance. But that wasn't what bothers the ravenette.

It was the fact that he was able to receive one of her powerful left-handed serves.

 _He received it, **effortlessly.**_

Makoto stood frozen on her spot as she watched the ball landing exactly on the setter's position.

 _You have got to be kidding me..._

She thought, jaw slightly dropped as she turned to the libero, who is smirking victoriously as if he won an unspoken bet.

 _A perfect serve-receive..._

Standing up proudly, Yuu approached her with a huge grin. "How was that, Sakime-chan?! Did I do any good?"

Unable to say anything, Makoto only nodded quietly. She watched as Yuu pumping his fist on mid-air, all the while thinking deeply.

 _Just what the hell did I put myself into..?_

"Yep! I go to Karasuno!" Grinning brightly, Yuu happily pointed to himself with his thumb.

Slightly embarrassed at her sudden outburst, Makoto cleared her throat to regain her composure. "S-so... You're a second year, no?" She asked carefully, more likely to prevent him from asking about her reaction.

But Yuu was able to see through this, which made him chuckle a bit before he gets to answer, "Right, again!" He slightly paused then carefully added, "For a minute I thought you're going to mistake me for a first year due to my height."

"Pssh." Makoto rolled her eyes at that then nudged him with her elbow. "Duffoos, you just told me that you went to the Nationals two years ago when you were a third year. Plus, how could you get suspended on the first week of school when Karasuno is only a _high_ _school?_ "

"Alright, alright. I get it, Sakime-chan. And duffoos?"

A smirk formed around the ravenette's lips; she looked at him smugly. "Yeah, it's a nickname that _I_ came up with for you. You like it? It sounds cute, doesn't it?"

This time, it was Yuu who rolled his eyes at the intended insult. After a few milliseconds, he inwardly cackled. "I like it! It has a nice ring to it! And the way you said it suited your voice very well!" Yuu beamed at Makoto like a little kid almost genuinely.

"Wait... What?"

Makoto instantly felt heat quickly rushing to her cheeks at the indirect compliment. She took very small and quick glances at the brunette to make sure whether he was lying or not, but his lively grin spoke otherwise. Of course, she gave up in the end then sighed out lightly.

"Hey, why won't I give you a _cute_ nickname too, Sakime-chan?" Yuu asked a bit too lively, which caused Makoto to raised one of the eyebrows at the suspicious behaviour.

She then shrugged it off nonchalantly. "Sure, I guess? I don't really care to be honest."

"Ooookay~!"

Then he suddenly went to a playlfully serious thinking position. Makoto found his pose a bit too amusing that she bit her lower lip to prevent herself from laughing. The way he intesively stared at the ground, leaning his chin to his back hand and furrowing his eyebrows in deep concentration, it took a lot of her will power not to let out just a giggle.

As fast as lightning, Makoto fished her phone out, quietly took a photo of him, then shoved it back to her skirt pocket.

 _Ohohohoho! How beautiful would it be if I get to use this photo as my introduction of him in my journal? Mommy would be so amused if she saw this!_

"Nnnghh..." A weird groaning sound made Makoto to turn to the source, the thinking man himself.

It's evident in the face that he's currently making that Yuu is facing difficulties trying to come up with a nickname for her. His eyes were narrowed, his eyebrows were furrowed further, and he was gritting his teeth. Makoto, observant as she was, noticed the enlargement of his nostrils whenever he inhales.

 _He looks like a gorilla..._ That would nearly choke her to death if she was drinking something.

"Nnngggh... I GIVE UP!" Yuu finally exclaimed, lazily leaning backwards in dejection.

Makoto finally let out a chuckle after moments of supression. "So soon?"

Yuu gave her a look then straighten up his position. "Naming my moves is one of my specialties, I'm confident. But giving a girl a nickname is another thing for me. It's like choosing between volleyball and food!"

"Is that it? Of course I'd choose foo–!" She paused before thinking deeply for a second. "But I love volleyball too~!" She complained to herself.

"See? It's that hard..." Yuu concluded with his arms crossed, casually nodding his head at the same time.

Makoto rolled her eyes with a smile. "Fine, you're right."

"About me knowing that you also go to Karasuno?" Yuu asked with a smirk.

"No– wait. How did you know?" She turned to him with an accusing look.

"Your reaction earlier when I told you that I went to Karasuno said it all." He pointed out with a teasing grin.

Makoto huffed out some air while crossing her arms and legs. "Never knew that a duffoos like you could be so perceptive." She remarked.

"Thanks, I get that a lot!" Yuu replied with a smirk.

She turned her head away from him then grumbled underneath her breath. "Cocky bastard."

"I heard that."

"You're meant to hear it, anyways."

"Why does your mood changes so sudden?"

"It's how I am."

"You're a weird one."

"Thanks, I get that a lot!" She mimicked what he said earlier with the same tone and smirk.

Yuu then shook his head with a sigh. "Whatever, copycat."

The smirk vanished from Makoto's face then she replaced it with a straight frown. Yuu mimicked the frown then surprisingly made it look so similar to hers.

They continued to stare at each other for a few seconds before breaking out in laughter.

"W-we should stop now..." Makoto wheezed out.

Yuu nodded his head in agreement. "Y-yeah, we should..." They were still chuckling a bit before they get to regain their composure.

That is, until Makoto accidentally snorted out of the blue.

Let's just say that it ended up with Yuu laughing at her, shortly followed by a red-faced Makoto continuously trying to hit him.

Once they have calmed down, Makoto checked the time on her phone then sighed dejectedly. She stood up from the bench then faced him.

"I should get going, Noya-kun. My aunt might start looking for me if I stayed here any longer. It's quarter 'til five already." She announced to him, which made Yuu to look at her.

"Is your place nearby?" He asked carefully.

Makoto looked at the park's exit which is at least 10 meters away then turned back to Yuu. "Yeah, just a couple of streets away." She answered with pure honesty.

Yuu then smiled at her then stood up. "Then I should walk you home." He said then he grinned.

Makoto cocked an eyebrow at his statement. "What? Like I said, it's nearby. You don't have to–!"

"Hey, like you said, it's what friends do." He lightly nudged her with his elbow then playfully winked at her. "Besides, my parents aren't home and I can't play volleyball with my teammates. It's also pretty rude of me if I let a girl like you to walk home alone."

"Please, it's hardly even night."

"It's going to be night soon, though."

"Fine. You can walk me home." Makoto concluded with a small smile.

Yuu awkwardly scratched his head at how he even managed to convince her. Quickly diminishing his thoughts, he asked, "What time should you be back home, Sakime-chan?"

The ravenette just shrugged. "I never said a specific time. But I kinda told her that I should be back around five."

The brunette just grinned at this. "Then we should walk slowly."

"Why?"

"So we get to talk more."

Makoto shook her head then said, "We could still talk tomorrow, but I'm asking why you wanted to."

Still grinning, Yuu casually put his hand behind his head then replied, "Because you get to have a new nickname by the time you get home."

"Duffoos." Makoto shook her head at his response but nodded nonetheless.

The walk to home is quite the journey for the two loud-mouthed Karasuno students.

The conversation turns to wherever their train of thoughts go, which a passerby realizes is even more haphazard than what is expected. In a matter of minutes, they're talking about a variety of topics from volleyball to how badass and cute the Karasuno's uniforms are to them.

Makoto learned a lot about Yuu that she had no idea of. She figured that he was struggling with one subject, which is Modern Literature, but she had no idea that he never faced problems with all the other subjects. She found out that his father owns a restaurant at Greece, a successful one at that. Makoto also learned that Yuu also plays goalkeeper in soccer and practices Judo back when he is still in middle school.

He was quite the character, that much she concludes. He told her that he was one to be shy around girls he never met before yet he's casually blabbering around her as if they were best friends for a long time when they just met an hour ago. Another thing she noticed about him was how his mood changes constantly, a very reminiscent of her own- from a socially awkward yet loud-mouthed Noya-kun to a cocky-as-fuck quiet duffoos.

The duffoos himself also learned a lot about his female companion as well, like how bad she is when it comes to memorization that she always failed in Japanese History, how extremely sensitive her hearing is that loud noises irritate her, how easily stressed she gets when working on something (especially studying), how bad she is with sports outside of volleyball and surprisingly gymnastics, and how clueless she can be when it comes to trivial matters.

Makoto is an extremely honest person, that much Yuu is aware of. She shared so much information to him regarding her hobbies, favorite food, likes, dislikes, goals, and even achievements. She also revealed to him that she is a twin, which got him by surprise, and that she has 3 siblings in total: her married older sister, her older twin sister, and her younger brother who's in his last year of middle school. Makoto happens to be really good at singing and dancing that she actually earns money through YouTube by doing covers of well-known songs (he made sure to check on her channel once he got back home). But what actually intrigues Yuu the most was that Makoto is a die-hard Mixer (Little Mix fan) ever since the group toured in Japan a few years ago (as much as he doesn't want to admit it to her, he had been following the group ever since he heard about them winning the X-Factor when he and his parents spent Christmas at the UK).

There are a lot of things that the two had in common, as in, _a lot._ They both knew that they worshipped volleyball, food, and Karasuno's uniforms, but they had no idea that they shared the same motto: "You only lived once." They were both underestimated when playing, tall people irritate them, they become really happy when they grow taller, they love arcade games (especially shooting games), they read mangas when they can't play volleyball during their free time, they love pranking people, they always fail at DIYs, they have instincts that enables them to do certain actions, and a lot more to add in their list of similarities.

Ever since they left the park until now, throughout their endless conversation, neither of the two had ever raised their voices nor muttered under their breaths. They were just talking like any other normal person, with a normal tone, and with a normal pace; totally different from their usually loud demeanors.

But when Makoto mentioned about her general use of onomatopoeias when she explains certain things, the whole normal conversation skyrocketed into a series of _'gwaah!'_ and _'pwoosh!',_ something that you would expect from two hyperactive gibberish people.

Of course, despite all the honest answers here and there, there are obviously some topics that they tend to avoid talking about. This also includes family matters, secrets, embarrassing moments, the reason why Noya-kun fought with the vice-principal, and of course the further explanation regarding the end of Sakime-chan's future volleyball career. Not that the two would mind about it, but it's going to be really strange if they shared too much information to each other when they just met an hour ago.

"I haven't joined a club yet..." Makoto said midway through a topic about how she liked Karasuno so far. She casually put her hands behind her head and blew some of her bangs off of her nose.

Yuu turned to her with a look of surprise. "Really? We have like, dozens of clubs there to join."

The ravenette put her hands down before crossing them. With a light shrug, Makoto replied, "Well, yeah there are. But other than volleyball, singing, dancing and being made out of rubber, I have no other extra talents that can help me into joining a freaking club! There's no Gymnastics club here, there's no club for dancing as well, and joining the school choir would be the last thing I'll do because never have I once sang in a group or two."

"Don't we have a Cheerleading club? Cheerleading is almost like gymnatics but more acrobatic, right?" Yuu asked as he blinked curiously at the ravenette who rolled her eyes.

With a straight face, Makoto answered, "Yes, which is why I was planning to join. But unfortunately, we don't have one, Noya-kun."

"Oh. But what do you mean by not having extra talents, Sakime-chan?" Once again, he asked curiously.

Letting out an uncomfortable groan, Makoto faced the spiky-haired brunette. "It's just like I said, I have no extra talents other than the first four that I mentioned earlier. I can't draw to save my life. I can't be creative enough to write a friggin' story. I can only take pictures using my phone because my hands tremble every time I hold a camera, strangely enough. I could barely strum a guitar. I don't have green hands. I'm too lazy to do some cleaning. I easily get stressed to join an academic club. I also have this amazing tone in my voice that prevents me from joining the Broadcasting club." She listed, counting everything with her fingers.

Yuu looked at her with a very surprised expression. He knew that there are a lot of things that she can't do, but this is bizzare. _She's more... hopeless than I thought._.. He managed to noted that mentally considering that he is currently gaping at her nonstop.

"What about... Cooking club..?" He asked very carefully, his voice shrinking with nervousness at what her answer is going to be. But the moment that Makoto turned her head away from him, everything exploded within him. Like someone directly threw a grenade at his face, waking him up to make him face the harshness of what he called **'reality'.**

 **"YOU CAN'T COOK?!"** He exclaimed with a look of horror plastered on his face. Makoto slightly winced at the loud outburst then shakily turned her head back to face him. She chuckled nervously while scratching her nape before she nodded her head in confirmation.

"Y-yeah... Not like that I can't cook. It's more of like... I don't know how to?" Hesitantly, Makoto corrected him with a nervous smile.

Composing himself for the better of his sanity, Yuu took a very deep breath before letting it all out. He turned to look at the ravenette once again, but this time with a much less bothered expression. "Okay then, how do you not know **_how_** to **_cook?_** "

"Well, you already know how filthy rich Hatoyama is, right? I was actually living in one of their dorms, a very luxurious one I could say. The bath house has an actual onsen in it, one huge bedroom per student, and the dining hall is just as fancy as one of those from hotels. As a student, all you need to do is to go to your seat and the meal will be serve to you by actual maids; the same goes for dinner and midnight snacks whereas lunch is being taken care of in the cafeteria. I've been a student of Hatoyama for 7 years already, so I didn't necessarily see the point of cooking for myself when food is being served to me the moment I take a seat." Almost as if defending herself, Makoto explained everything carefully with her arms firmly crossed.

"Well, that makes sense. I've seen Hatoyama's facilities just this morning when my Mom told me to go there and I felt like an ant 'cause everything is so HUGE! Definitely not for a mere commoner like me." With arms crossed and eyes closed, Yuu stated while lightly nodding his head.

Makoto also nodded her head in agreement then pointed out, "I managed to study there due to a Volleyball scholarship. Now that I left the team, I have to pay the school's monthly tuition fees that is worth 2 years of my monthly allowances and keep my grades up. But since my mom doesn't want me to get stressed, she transferred me out. You know the rest."

Yuu softly hummed in agreement before slightly opening his eyes. He glanced at the slightly fidgeting ravenette at his right and felt the corners of his mouth twitching. "So..." He started.

Makoto turned to look at him only to notice the smug look he is sporting. She inwardly rolled her eyes at the expression he's making. _I guess **Bastardo** **Arrogante** is back again to tease me._ "What?"

"Do you have any regrets?" Yuu asked, still with his arms crossed.

"Hah?" The ravenette quirked an eyebrow, obviously stunned by his question. "About what?"

The brunette continued, "About not necessarily seeing the point of cooking for yourself now that you don't live in that luxurious mansion of a dorm?"

Makoto then let out a deep groan, slouching a little. "Do you really have to ask that?"

"Well, it's part of our topic in the first place." With a light shrug, Yuu replied straightforwardly.

"Yeah, I do regret it. Which is why I spent my whole spring vacation learning how to cook from my mom before I moved here. I managed to grab the basics really well in that short amount of time but, I still can't cook a single dish on my own." Forming a stern frown, the ravenette explained hastily to him.

Then all of a sudden, Yuu grinned. "But you already know what to do, right? Now that's an achievement!"

Makoto gazed at him shortly, with her mouth slightly opened. Then she felt her lips slowly forming into a small smile, making her lightly blush in the end. _This cocky bastard sure knows what to say to make me feel better, huh?_

"Come to think of it, have you ever thought of becoming a manager instead?" Yuu questioned, gaining Makoto's full attention to him again.

"Manager? As in... In a volleyball club?"

Yuu happily nodded in reply. "Yeah! That way, you can also play from time to time despite not in the team!"

Smiling, Makoto nodded back at him. "I suppose I could give it a try... Can I join your club then?"

"Eh? But there's already the Girls' Volleyball Club..."

Makoto visibly flinched, shaking her head vigorously in the process. "No no no. Impossible. Delete delete. Put **volleyball** and **girls** in one sentence, I'll likely break my promise and join as a player instead."

Yuu just smiled in understanding. "Well then, I'll see you at club activities next month!"

"We go to the same school, duffoos. So it's more like 'See you at school next week!' or something," corrected the ravenette.

All of a sudden, Makoto abruptly stopped from her tracks. "We're here."

"Oh, is that so? Guess I'll see you tomorrow then..." The brunette trailed off, his eyes slowly darted towards the rather large pink house in front of them.

"Thanks for walking me all the way here, I really aprpreciated it! And... what's wrong?" Makoto asked, noticing that her male companion was staring at her house in shock.

Yuu looked between the house and Makoto repeatedly. Shaking his head, he carefully asked. "Sakime-chan, _this_ is where you live?" He pointed at the pink house.

"Well, technically it's my aunt's but I supposed you could say that I live here." The ravenette replied with a nonchalant shrug.

"See that house over there?" Yuu asked, gesturing to the two-storey cream coloured house behind them, right in front of Makoto's home.

"Yeah?"

Chuckling nervously, Yuu scratched his head. "Well, that's where I live."

Makoto only blinked in return, mouth agaped at the same time.

 _We're neighbours..?_

 **OH MY GOD HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN?! 6 MONTHS!**

 **I am so sorry for the very long hiatus!**

 **Here are the main reasons why I haven't updated for so long:**

 **1) I'm in 11th grade (Accountancy, Business, Management) right now.  
** **-Meaning 5 hours of Math a day, doing research, piled up projects, and my procastinating butt!**

 **2) Very bad wifi, literally.**

 **3) FanFiction app malfunction.**

 **4) Anxiety and Stress.  
** **\- This is what 5 hours of Math a day do to you!**

 **5) I nearly lost motivation but thankfully I got it back!**

 **By the way, the title's supposed to be "Encounters" as said in the last chapter. But I moved the title in the next chapter because this one is starting to get too long to get published, so I kinda hurried it up.** **Hope you like this chapter!**

 **Next chapter: Encounters**


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